School of Earth, Environmental, and Marine Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
11-2-2024
Abstract
Fish communities on artificial reefs have rarely been monitored over long periods to evaluate success of reef deployment. Here, we used roving diver surveys to assess changes in fish assemblages on a large, reefed vessel during 2008–2017. Multivariate analyses revealed a dynamic community that stabilized after 5 years. Species richness increased and species dominance decreased during 2008–2017. The fish community shifted toward reef-associated species such as hogfish and pufferfish. Species composition shifted, but trophic structure was relatively stable, which suggested that functional groups may not reflect larger community shifts. Our results indicate that fish communities on artificial reefs are temporally dynamic and that long-term monitoring is needed to understand how fish assemblage structure changes through time.
Recommended Citation
Hicks, David, Ethan Getz, Richard Kline, and Carlos Cintra Buenrostro. "A Decade of Monitoring Reveals a Dynamic Fish Assemblage on a Substantial Artificial Reef in the Texas Gulf of Mexico." Fisheries Management and Ecology (2024): e12756. https://doi.org/10.1111/fme.12756
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Publication Title
Fisheries Management and Ecology
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1111/fme.12756
Included in
Aquaculture and Fisheries Commons, Earth Sciences Commons, Environmental Sciences Commons, Marine Biology Commons
Comments
© 2024 The Author(s). Fisheries Management and Ecology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.